


They Don't Make Quiet Vacuums

by official_dave



Category: Star Fox Series
Genre: fox/falco fluff, it's not exactly a pairing but falco is definitely crushing on fox, they're still in academy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2019-10-26 18:39:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17751314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/official_dave/pseuds/official_dave
Summary: Falco chooses to vacuum in the middle of the night. Someone from the floor upstairs isn't too pleased. But he sure is cute.





	1. Chapter 1

It's 11:30 on a Tuesday night. I'm on the bottom floor of the academy dorms. My floor’s dirty. Inspection is tomorrow morning. Yeah, it's a bad time to be vacuuming. But I got an excuse. I ain't got a roommate and I was working all day.

It's not like I _wanted_ to keep anyone awake. I know how youse are with your beauty sleep. I had my door closed! So tell me how this guy over here heard it from upstairs? I call bull.

I was nearly done when the knock came, too. Matter of fact, I didn't hear it the first time. He knocked harder the second time.

I turn off the vacuum and open the door. There's a fox in front of me. I can tell he's tired because he's in these dorky pajamas.

“‘Sup?” I'm playing it cool. He doesn't look happy, but I got a way with words.

“You couldn't have picked a better time to vacuum?” he asks. I didn't even faze him.

I actually recognize this guy. I know he lives upstairs. He enrolled in the same class as me. He does well. A bit of a teacher's pet, honestly.

“I was working,” I shrug.

His ears twitch. That's kinda cute. “Listen, man, I'm just trying to sleep.”

I fold my arms. “Man, that must be tough when you're walking around like that.” It's not like I want to piss him off. I just like to play with guys like this a little. They make it so easy.

He rolls his eyes. I decide I like the way his whiskers move when he does that. Probably looks even better when he smiles. “Could you just be a little quieter?”

“They don't make quiet vacuums.” I'm grinning. I know he knows I'm making fun of him, and I'm pretty sure he's getting pissed. I should quit while I'm ahead. “Look, I'm sorry. Just give me twenty seconds and I'm done.”

He raises an eyebrow. “It'd take less time to just report you.”

He's a surprisingly fast thinker for someone who just woke up. Didn't expect that from his type. It's cute.

Now, I'm not afraid of getting written up. But I'm not keen on it, either. I wasn't thinking. I pulled him into my room.

“Wha--hey!” he hissed. I closed the door and stood in front of it.

I realized right away I was doing something stupid, and I was also starting to feel underdressed, in just sweatpants. God, was he blushing? Fuck, was _I_ blushing too?

“Or, you could not report me,” I said as calmly as I could to save face.

“And you thought pulling me into your room would incentivize me to _not_ report you why?” He _was_ blushing, just a little.

“I was thinking a little more conversation would lighten the mood.”

“There is nothing about this situation that is not weird.”

“You greet all your new friends like that?” I mock-frown. “How about, ‘hi, I'm Fox?’”

“How do you know my name?” He puts his hands on his hips. It's so cute when this guy sasses me. I'm gonna lose it.

“We have classes together. It's not weird or anything. I'm Falco Lombardi by the way, thanks for asking.”

Yeah, I've heard his name before. It kinda stuck.

“Wait a second. Are you flirting with me?” he asks. Wow. The other shoe finally drops. You know, for someone who can ace these flight tests, he sure is dumb.

But I'm gonna play with him some more. “Are you?”

“I-I'm pretty sure you're trying to flirt with me.” He's red again. “I'm still going to report you.”

“Yeah, whatever. Hey, you eat at the mess hall?”

He's caught off guard. “What about it?”

“So you do. I'll come find you,” I tell him, flashing him another smile. He's rolling his eyes again.

“I eat early,” he tells me. He thinks I sleep in. He's right, but I can't resist:

“Early bird gets the fox,” I retort.

He pushes his way towards the door. I let him go; I've had my fun.

“See ya tomorrow, Fox?”

“Not if I can help it,” I hear him say under his breath as he leaves.


	2. Spunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fox is a tough nut to crack.

I was tired the next morning. Staying up late tends to do that to ya. I ended up awake later than usual, and barely made it to the mess hall in time, feeling like I was missing something. 

I was looking for a table to eat my breakfast when I remembered what that something was. He was by himself, not a single wrinkle in his uniform, staring into a flight textbook. What a geek. 

Yeah, Fox McCloud had been on my mind all night. Look, he was cute. He was attractive.

It wasn't quite a crush, but  _ man _ do I like guys like this. 

He didn't even notice me sit down. His nose was nearly touching the diagram of an Arwing. He probably thought I was one of his buddies. Maybe that frog. 

Now that I thought about it, I remembered a few of the cadets I'd seen him around with. Nobody from my circles, that's for sure. I had an image to keep up, nothing personal. 

He still hadn't noticed me. “Spoilers,” I said, “the ending sucks.”

It was a garbage punch line, but it did the job. Which was an understatement. Fox looked like he'd seen a ghost. Maybe his lack of sleep had put him on edge. 

“Oh. Hi,” he said sourly when he regained his composure and realized it was me. He promptly reburied his whiskers in the book. 

I wasn't about to let that stop me. “I told you I'd see you around, Fox.” I could tell my using his name put him off, but he did his best to ignore me. 

“I told you,” I repeated, “I'd see you around.” I tilted his book down so I could see him. He pushed my wing away. Basically, we were holding hands. “And here I am.”

“And here you are,” he sighed. “Look, I'm a little busy right now…”

“...Flight class?” I asked, and I knew the answer was yes. We actually had the same flight class, both of us being cadets. He probably hadn't noticed until last night. “The quiz’ll be no sweat. And an egghead like you probably doesn't even have to read,” I grinned. He frowned. 

“I do plenty of studying to get where I am, thanks,” Fox fumed. 

I couldn’t think of anything to say to that as someone else approached the table. A pink cat, about my height with short white hair - unmistakably Katt Monroe. I didn’t know they knew each other.

Naturally, she completely ignored me, giving Fox the chance to do the same. “You must be worried about that test,” she remarked.

“That’s an understatement,” Fox replied as Katt set her tray down beside him. “The only reason I went to bed last night was because Slip talked me into it.”

Katt shook her head, laughing slightly. “You’re something else, Fox.”

I’m not a fan of being ignored. I got up and left, passing Slippy on my way out. He was Fox’s roommate, and I remembered seeing him in our flight class, too. He was the shy type who couldn’t carry on a conversation for three seconds unless he knew you. Needless to say, we hadn’t had any heart-to-hearts ever.

Well, it didn’t matter to me if I couldn’t catch him now. He wouldn’t be able to ditch me after class.

* * *

 

Fox noticed I was in his flight class today. He noticed because I winked as he passed. He rolled his eyes and ignored me. 

“H-hey Fox,” I heard Slippy say from behind me as they both say down, “who's that?”

“Nobody,” Fox said, annoyed. 

Flight class was a pain because we studied diagrams and never actually flew anything. At least, not for a week or so yet. Academy teaches you to defend yourself before you have to worry about defending an Arwing. Smart enough, but they could stand to make it a little more interesting. 

The nice thing about having a quiz in flight class, though, was that an hour of staring at the clock became forty minutes of staring at the clock. Or, in my case, staring at the clock and sneaking the occasional glance at Fox. He didn’t notice, but I think Slippy did. 

I cornered Fox after class. The toad wasn’t with him anymore. 

“What do you want?” he sighed. 

Huh. That wasn’t what I was expecting. “I only wanna know where you’re headed. Maybe I can accompany you.”

“I’m headed,” he said, “to the library. Alone, hopefully.”

I frowned. “Sure you don’t wanna stu-”

“-I don’t know what your game is,” Fox interrupted, “but you’re starting to get on my nerves, Lombardi.”

I didn’t say anything. I was surprised that he had the spunk in him to say that. He turned away from me, flicking his tail up, and walked in the direction of the library. 

“Was it something I said?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I'll continue this between working on my main projects, but I really like Falox and there's more I want to do with this story. Stay tuned, I guess?


End file.
